Snyder Memorial Church fills the window of a third-floor corner apartment in the building owned by Chamblin.

Property manager Heather Pullen used to agonize about finding renters for the 12 units at W.A. Knight Lofts in downtown Jacksonville.

Filling the loft apartments was such a struggle that thoughts of someday having a waiting list for them seemed like a pipe dream.

Today, Pullen can have a new renter signed up and ready to move in before a departing tenant has finished packing. The waiting list fluctuates with 12 to 15 people on it.

“We’re running out of places to put people,” she said of downtown’s housing. “Two years ago, I couldn’t beg someone to move into my building when the rental market was awful, and all of a sudden now, I’ve got this ridiculous wait list going.”

But even as more people move into downtown addresses and push occupancy rates to their highest level in eight years, developers are still standing on the sidelines. The city’s Southside has seen a splurge in new apartment construction, but in downtown, vacant buildings previously slated for apartments remain boarded up, either for sale or on hold.

In Tampa and Orlando, developers have broken ground on building apartments that will add hundreds of new units to those downtowns.

Jacksonville Civic Council Executive Director Don Shea, who is one of the appointees, said it’s not surprising apartment construction hasn’t spread yet to downtown.

“Development in the ’burbs is always easier,” he said. “When you’re redeveloping property, it’s impossible to know exactly what you’re going to find. Downtown is more difficult, but it’s a unique product.”

He said he favors financial incentives for downtown development like the deal approved this year for construction of new apartments at 220 Riverside Ave. in the Brooklyn neighborhood bordering downtown. That deal provided 20 years of property tax breaks by reducing the city tax bill by 75 percent, an incentive worth $4.9 million.

He said that offering that kind of incentive package “for a limited time” to developers would give downtown an advantage in competing with the suburbs for investment.

Downtown Vision, the nonprofit that represents property owners, estimates about 3,260 people lived downtown at the end of 2011.

The occupancy rate for rental units was 91 percent, which was the best since 2004, according to Downtown Vision.

Market research by Real Data, based in Charlotte, N.C., also shows improvement. Since June 2010, the vacancy rate has fallen to 4.9 percent from 7.2 percent, even as average rent has increased to $976 from $910.

The 100-unit Carling is 94 percent occupied and the 127-apartment 11 East Forsyth is 96 percent full, according to the Vestcor Companies, which owns those historic buildings.

Downtown already has buildings that got some renovation before the real estate market crashed. At the top of the city’s list are the Laura Street Trio and Barnett Bank, which have been for sale for several years. Just down the street, a seven-story building at 218 W. Adams St. that was once slated for apartments is on the market for $750,000.

The newest entrant on the downtown housing carousel is Ron Chamblin, owner of Chamblin’s Uptown book store on Laura Street. In April, he bought a three-story building next to his bookstore and plans to convert the top two floors into six apartments. He’s been hauling out debris from the 108-year-old building, which has retail on the first floor but hasn’t been home to anyone for decades.

Still, it offers a scenic view of Laura Street from the upper floor windows, facing the Gothic Snyder Memorial Church. Chamblin hopes to lease the remodeled apartments in two to three years.

A couple of blocks away, Kimmik Corp. started renovating the seven-floor building at 20 W. Adams St. in 2004 but stopped when the real estate market tanked. Marion Graham, general manager of Kimmik, said the growing number of people living downtown is a positive sign. He hopes in the first quarter of 2013, an improving economy will sway lenders to make real estate loans needed for the project to move ahead.

“We still have high expectations,” he said. “It’s a great location.”

Steve Atkins, managing partner of Linea LLC, said his development team is likewise keen on the Laura Street Trio and Barnett Bank.

Atkins unveiled plans in 2010 for apartments, retail and hotel rooms in those buildings, but they still stand idle.

“The apartment market is so strong in so many places,” Atkins said. “I do think people are coming around to the idea that it can be viable. It just takes a little faith and some pioneering effort.”

Jacksonville Civic Council Executive Director Don Shea, [...] said he favors financial incentives for downtown development like the deal approved this year for construction of new apartments at 220 Riverside Ave. in the Brooklyn neighborhood bordering downtown. That deal provided 20 years of property tax breaks by reducing the city tax bill by 75 percent, an incentive worth $4.9 million.

He said that offering that kind of incentive package “for a limited time” to developers would give downtown an advantage in competing with the suburbs for investment.

Limited time? 20 years is "limited time"? Claims only an incentive of $4.9 mil, but I wonder how this percentage (20%) was calculated. Will the developers of the apartments get an annual 20% reduction for 20 years, or will the percentage taper off during the 20 years (ie. year one - 20% reduction, year two 19% reduction, etc.?

I owned a large number of homes in the Springfield area and was trying to restore them. Some I only paid $1,000 or $5,000 each. Yet, what did the city do? Condemned them, deemed them uninhabitable and still wanted to assess them at what it calls "Fair Market Value"; one was completely gutted and ready for reconstruction, but the city assessed it at $42,000 and would not negotiate it's taxable value.

I live downtown and agree with many of the comments. The locals at the Winn Dixie do take some getting used to but at the end of the day you need to realize they're just poor. Nevermind the reasons why they're poor because they're different from person to person. Certainly many of their plights are self-inflicted but many are not. Many are just legitimately trying to make a living. JSO has a permanent duty officer there as well so I am never scared to go there.

There is a lot of stigma about downtown being unsafe. The truth is there aren't many cops downtown because there isn't much crime, or at least that's what JSO tells me. Most of the time when there is crime it's vagrant-on-vagrant crime. When there is a major crime not related to vagrants it is usually alcohol-induced and/or related to some event downtown that drew thousands of participants. Unsavory characters are certainly part of the crowd but that's just a matter of statistics--there will always be criminals. Those kind of incidents can and do happen anywhere.

I also think it would be helpful for people to draw a distinction between being asked for change and being mugged. Being panhandled doesn't equate to dealing with crime. I agree that it can get old but tell them sternly to [filtered word] off when you're not in the giving mood and you wont be messed with again. Give them change when you are feeling generous and witness sincere thanks for amounts of money most of us would consider inconsequential. That's just my experience based on me living downtown for the last 5 years. And over that time it has gotten considerably safer even though, like i said, i never felt unsafe to begin with.

The tax issue if tough. A huge property tax base has been rendered useless because it's owned by churches, one in particular. I dont know if we should be giving developers breaks but i also dont know if churches should be given breaks for all their properties. How about just the main sanctuary instead of the full 6 blocks they own? I would need to look more deeply into the tax issue before making any real decisions but that is my off-the-cuff reaction.

I understand that many folks feel downtown is a waste of time and resources. As best as i can tell, those folks have likely never experienced a large, established city. I feel like if they did, they would be able to see the hidden treasure those of us that have invested in home purchases downtown also see. I knew when i purchased my place it would be 10 years, easy, before any meaningful changes came about but based on the article, i am not the only one who sees the value or appeal of a thriving downtown area. I remain optimistic, misguided or not ;) .

Get over yourselves DT haters. Downtown is just as safe as any where else in Jax. I go there for lunch and dinner several days a week. If you like to keep yourself penned up in your traffic laden gated community then stay there. But with out a successful downtown this city will never reach its potential and you can kiss the jaguars good bye too.